Former Maple Leafs' Great Says It's Time For Marner To Go

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Former Leafs great & the franchise's first 50-goal scorer Rick Vaive said it's time for the team to move on from Mitch Marner and use that money that would have been allotted to him somewhere else on the roster.

The Toronto Maple Leafs' first-ever 50-goal scorer (did it three times in the 1980s) believes that Mitch Marner's days in T.O. are done. As a guest columnist in the Toronto Sun on Thursday, after having watched the 6-1 debacle the Leafs suffered in Game 5 of their series against the Florida Panthers, Rick Vaive said it's time for the team to move on and use that money that would have been allotted to Marner somewhere else on the roster. 

Hey, I think he’s a hell of a player who has averaged 90 to 100 points every year. But the bottom line, if the Leafs lose this series to Florida, is that you have to look at everything. 

Now you have Mitch coming up on a new contract and he wants his turn at big money, around $13 million US a year. But if you’re running the Leafs, you have to think ‘what else could we spend that money on?’

Vaive then goes on to answer that question himself by suggesting "a tough right winger" for Auston Matthews. And then, "Maybe you have a few million left over to add another defenceman". 

He makes it even clearer with this definitive statement: 

I honestly believe if he hits July 1 as a free agent, they should let him go.

Vaive then blames former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas for handing out "all those big deals with no movement clauses," which led to Marner being able to block a trade for Mikko Rantanen from the Carolina Hurricanes back at the trade deadline, before they shipped him off to the Dallas Stars instead. 

But the former Leafs legend isn't the only one telling us that Marner has to go. Of course, the fans are having their say (starting with tossing their jerseys on the ice after the embarrassing loss in Game 5), and now another former Leaf, and noted Marner-basher, Nick Kypreos is saying it flatly: "If they lose (this series), you can't bring him back. Now way... It's over."

“He should’ve been traded a long time ago, they doubled down and they tripled down on everybody, and now they’re 60 minutes away from losing and having it bite them in the ass.”

Marner's horrible giveaway that allowed Florida to go in front 3-0 Wednesday night seems to be the final nail in the coffin for so many observers:

Photo: © Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images

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